Role of Tryptophan in the Active Site of Plant Esterase: Chemical Modification and Fluorometric Studies

Plant esterase extracted from wheat flour play key roles in the spectrophotometric detection of organophosphorus compounds (OPs) for food safety and human health. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of tryptophan residues in the activity and structure of plant esterase by chemical modification and fluorometric studies. Active site characterization of purified plant esterase showed the involvement of tryptophan in the catalytic activity. Only one was essential for the enzyme activity by the Tsou’s analysis. Substrate protection experiments further confirmed that the tryptophan residue was located at the substrate-binding site. Fluorescence quenching studies elucidated that the tryptophan residues were largely exposed to the solvent, and a smaller fraction of the surface tryptophan residues had electropositively charged amino acids around them. Experimental results obtained here are expected to promote the applications of plant esterase in OPs detection. Further confirmation of the existence of other critical residues and detailed explanation of their functions were also required for the elucidation of the mechanism involved in the detection of OPs.     

Thermogravimetric analysis of carbide slag

Potential of carbide slag as transesterification catalyst is validated. Combined with X-ray fluorescence for ingredient determination, X-ray diffraction for textural phase analysis, scanning electron microscope for surface morphology observation and Hammett indicator for basic strength mensuration, thermal event of carbide slag is investigated through thermogravimetric analysis to estimate the potential of this calcium-based industrial waste as transesterification catalyst. Further, kinetic parameters are calculated through model-free method, where the experiments are conducted at temperature heating rates of 5, 10, 15, and 20 K min^?1. As for activation energy and reaction order, Vyazovkin method and Avrami theory are respectively mentioned. Meanwhile, catalytic performance of carbide slag is labeled by transesterification efficiency and calcium hydroxide is conditionally mentioned for comparison. In conclusion, potential of carbide slag as transesterification catalyst is adequately validated.     

A highly selective dual-channel Hg2+ chemosensor based on an easy to prepare double naphthalene Schiff base

Science China Chemistry - A non-sulfur chemosensor based on an easy to prepare double naphthalene Schiff base is reported for the colorimetric and fluorometric dual-channel sensing of Hg2+ ions by...     

Development and testing of a Frisch-Grid Ionization Chamber for the measurement of low activity of alpha-particle emitters

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - A Frisch-grid Ionization Chamber (FGIC) for the measurement of low activity of alpha-particle emitters has been built. The design and performance...     

Higher integrability for nonlinear elliptic equations with variable growth and discontinuous coefficients

In this paper, based on the theory of variable exponent spaces, we study the higher integrability for a class of nonlinear elliptic equations with variable growth and discontinuous coefficients. Under suitable assumptions, we obtain a local gradient estimate in Orlicz space for weak solution.     

Tuning the Triplet Excited State of Bis(dipyrrin) Zinc(II) Complexes: Symmetry Breaking Charge Transfer Architecture with Exceptionally Long Lived Triplet State for Upconversion

Zinc(II) bis(dipyrrin) complexes, which feature intense visible absorption and efficient symmetry breaking charge transfer (SBCT) are outstanding candidates for photovoltaics but their short lived triplet states limit applications in several areas. Herein we demonstrate that triplet excited state dynamics of bis(dipyrrin) complexes can be efficiently tuned by attaching electron donating aryl moieties at the 5,5′-position of the complexes. For the first time, a long lived triplet excited state (τ_T=296 μs) along with efficient ISC ability (Φ_Δ=71 %) was observed for zinc(II) bis(dipyrrin) complexes, formed via SBCT. The results revealed that molecular geometry and energy gap between the charge transfer (CT) state and triplet energy levels strongly control the triplet excited state properties of the complexes. An efficient triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion system was devised for the first time using a SBCT architecture as triplet photosensitizer, reaching a high upconversion quantum yield of 6.2 %. Our findings provide a blueprint for the development of triplet photosensitizers based on earth abundant metal complexes with long lived triplet state for revolutionary photochemical applications.     

Assembled synthesis of luminescent mono/double‐layered 2D and 3D Zn (II)‐based coordination polymers tuned by flexible bis (pyridyl)propane‐1,2‐diamines and diverse organic dicarboxylates

Six mono/double‐layered 2D and three 3D coordination polymers were synthesized by a self‐assembly reaction of Zn (II) salts, organic dicarboxylic acids and L1/L2 ligands. These polymeric formulas are named as [Zn(L1)(C₄H₂O₄)_0.5 (H₂O)]_n·0.5n(C₄H₂O₄)·2nH₂O ( 1 ), [Zn₂(L2)(C₄H₂O₄)₂]_n·2nH₂O ( 2 ), [Zn(L1)(m‐BDC)]_n ( 3 ), [Zn₂(L2)(m‐BDC)₂]_n·2nH₂O ( 4 ), [Zn₃(L1)₂(p‐BDC)₃(H₂O)₄]_n·2nH₂O ( 5 ), [Zn₂(OH)(L2) (p‐BDC)_1.5]_n ( 6 ), [Zn₂(L1)(p‐BDC)₂]_n·5nH₂O ( 7 ), [Zn₂(L2)(p‐BDC)₂]_n·3nH₂O ( 8 ) and [Zn₂(L1)(C₄H₄O₄)_1.5(H₂O)]_n·n(ClO₄)·nH₂O ( 9 ) [L1 = N,N′‐bis (pyridin‐4‐ylmethyl)propane‐1,2‐diamine, L2 = N,N′‐bis (pyridin‐3‐ylmethyl)propane‐1,2‐ diamine, m‐BDC^2? = m‐benzene dicarboxylate, p‐BDC^2? = p‐benzene dicarboxylate]. Meanwhile, these polymers have been characterized by elemental analysis, infrared, thermogravimetry (TG), photoluminescence, powder and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. Polymers 1–6 present mono‐ and double (4,4)‐layer motifs accomplished by L1/L2 ligands with diverse conformations and organic dicarboxylates, and the layer thickness locates in the range of 5.8–15.0 Å. In three 3D polymers, the L1 and L2 molecules adopt the same cis‐conformations and join adjacent Zn (II) cations together with p‐BDC^2? or succinate, giving rise to different binodal (4,4)‐c nets with (4.5².8³)(4.5³.7²) ( 7 ), pts ( 8 ) topology and twofold interpenetrated binodal (5,5)‐c nets with (3².4⁴.5².6²)(3.4³.5².6⁴) ( 9 ). Therefore, the diverse conformations of the two bis (pyridyl)‐propane‐1,2‐diamines and the feature of different organic dicarboxylate can effectively influence the architectures of these polymers. Powder X‐ray diffraction patterns demonstrate that these bulk solid polymers are pure phase. TG analyses indicate that these polymers have certain thermal stability. Luminescent investigation reveals that the emission maximum of these polymers varies from 402 to 449 nm in the solid state at room temperature. Moreover, 1 , 3 and 5–8 show average luminescence lifetimes from 8.81 to 16.30 ns.     

Polyhydrido Copper Nanoclusters with a Hollow Icosahedral Core: [Cu30H18{E2P(OR)2}12] (E=S or Se; R=nPr,iPr or iBu)

Although atomically precise polyhydrido copper nanoclusters are of prime interest for a variety of applications, they have so far remained scarce. Herein, this work describes the synthesis of a dithiophosphate-protected copper(I) hydride-rich nanocluster (NC), [Cu₃₀H₁₈{S₂P(OnPr)₂}₁₂] ( 1_H ), fully characterized by various spectroscopic methods and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The X-ray structure of 1_H reveals an unprecedented central Cu₁₂ hollow icosahedron. Six faces of this icosahedron are capped by Cu₃ triangles, the whole Cu₃₀ core being wrapped by twelve dithiophosphate ligands and the whole cluster has ideal S₆ symmetry. The locations of the 18 hydrides in 1_H were ascertained by a single-crystal neutron diffraction study. They are composed of three types: capping μ₃-H, interstitial μ₄-H (seesaw) and μ₅-H ligands (square pyramidal), in good agreement with the DFT simulations. The numbers of hydrides and ligand resonances in the ¹H NMR spectrum of 1_H are in line with their coordination environment in the solid state, retaining the S₆ symmetry in solution. Furthermore, two new Se-protected polyhydrido copper nanoclusters, [Cu₃₀H₁₈{Se₂P(OR)₂}₁₂] ( 2_H : R=iPr 3_H : R=iBu) were synthesized from their sulfur relative 1_H via ligand displacement reaction and their X-ray structures feature the exceptional case where both the NC shape and size are fully conserved during the course of ligand exchange. DFT and TD-DFT calculations allow understanding the bonding and optical properties of clusters 1_H – 3_H . In addition, the reaction of 1_H with [Pd(PPh₃)₂Cl₂] in the presence of terminal alkynes led to the formation of new bimetallic Cu−Pd alloy clusters [PdCu₁₄H₂{S₂P(OnPr)₂}₆(C≡CR)₆] ( 4 : R=Ph; 5 : R = C₆H₄F).